Pepper weevil (Anthonomus eugenii Cano) attraction to host plant volatiles

The pepper weevil, a major pest of cultivated peppers (Capsicum spp.), is found throughout Central America, the Caribbean and the southern United States. The response of this weevil to host plant volatiles was investigated to aide in the development of better monitoring tools for growers. Behavioral bioassays in the Y-tube and wind tunnel demonstrated attraction of male and female weevils to constitutive levels of ‘Jalapeno’ pepper volatiles and those induced by conspecific feeding damage. Changes in the volatile profile of pepper plants with feeding damage were examined by GC-MS to identify potential target compounds for future investigations using GC-EAD.